(Note: This is a summary of episodes 8-10 of the doomed Survivor: Tonga project. This was an online Survivor game played between the months of March and May, 2003. It was later written up as a fan fiction story, with twists and villains and nastiness galore. I am kind of assuming you followed the story when it originally came out, but if you are unfamiliar with the project, or the players, you can catch up on the backstory and all the player bios at the Official Tonga Website.)

EPISODE 8 -- Frickin' Turncoat

Pulotu Tribe: Anna, CJ, Isabella, Jamie, Kathy, Lindsay, Marcy, Mario(Nick), Ronan

Jamie: "When we won the tie breaker, I thought that I could already see my check."

Ronan: "After Jayemel got shafted, I had it in the bag. From here on out, I knew I was safe, so it was time to take some cover again and disappear."

Jayemel was gone... and the Ana tribe was now in complete control of the game. Despite all their hostilities, all their differences, and some still-lingering bitterness over the Tenzil vote, they had managed to stick together at the merge and gain a majority in numbers. Even without their leader, the Anas had stuck together, had voted as a bloc, and were now unstoppable. Jamie, Kathy, Lindsay, CJ and Ronan now had an easy path to the final five. And if they wanted to, they could now easily pick off the Tumus... one by one.

Jamie: "CJ was calling the shots now, or at least SHE was the one who heard everyone's opinion. She was the center of Ana, a job that none of us really wanted. A few days before, at the feast, she told me how she had convinced Nick and Bella that she would be in an alliance with them, and that they were going to unwittingly help Ana (more specifically me and her) coast to the final 4. At this point CJ had a hundred and one schemes to get her to the finals, but since I was in all of them, I didn't really mind. And as much as I LIKED the idea that Tumu was just gonna go along with her plan, I really doubted that any of them were that stupid. But I kept my mouth shut and moved along. And then sure enough... the merge vote didn't go as planned.... CJ's "minion's" failed to vote the way she said. CJ had assured me beforehand that things would be cool, but they weren't. And when we came down to the coral rock drawing at that TC I was scared shitless."

And while the Anas celebrated in victory, the Tumus took the defeat hard. Things looked bleak, and their confessionals from the next morning took a decidedly different tone.

Anna: "When Jay went, I knew the game was over. It wasn't a "well, we'll see what I can do", or a "It gets harder now" kind of a thing. I just knew the game was over. The Tumus were pretty close and loyal, and I just assumed the Anas were the same way, based off of that last vote. There is no way they would give up an easy Pagonging. I talked to Bella and Marcy, and just kinda told them that I didn't see a way out for the Tumus. They didn't disagree with me. And then I talked with Nick. I still remember that his first words to me were, "we're screwed". But when something is that sure, you don't get despondent, you just get, well, relaxed. Your fate is sealed, might as well enjoy your last few days on the island."

Mario: "I had gone back on my promise to Ronan and CJ... twice... and I was pretty sure I knew what would happen now. The two of them would murder me first, and then vote me out. Or maybe they'd vote me out first... and then murder me later. I could already see eight votes with my name on them at the next Tribal Council. But I figured, well if I go out, at least I better go out with a bang."

Isabella: "I must say it felt awkward for me. For the first time in the game, I was in the minority. But I looked at this as a challenge and a chance to have fun. I was determined to at the least be the last Tumu standing, but I still knew I'd win the whole thing. So I immediately had a plan. Dump the Tumus. They're yesterday's news. I was now a lone shark; a free agent. Marcy wanted to go home anyway and frankly I didn't mind leaving Anna and Nick to look after themselves."

The Tumus were in the dumps, and only Isabella was still putting up much a fight. And she didn't seem particularly fond of her teammates at the moment, either.

Isabella (confessional from day 22): "If you're going by who deserves to be here more by trying, Nick and I deserve to be here way more than Anna or Marcy, who have both basically given up and are lying down waiting to be killed. I don't admire that at all. I think that's just being a pussy. Man, one little thing doesn't go your way and then you just give up?"

And with their backs to the wall, both Isabella and Mario decided to take a course of action. They both decided to act and, unbeknownst to each other, they both chose the EXACT same strategy to try to save themselves.

Anna: "Nick hadn't really given up, and he didn't seem like he was going to let me give up either. He finally just told me that his plan now was to lie his pants off and tell CJ and Ronan that he HAD kept his word and voted against Jay, so someone ELSE must have voted against Lindsay. I immediately responded, "Bad Mormon!". He just grinned and chuckled. However, I vowed to back him up if he lied. When you're screwed, why not do something a little crazy and unusual? It can't make things any worse."

Mario: "I really had nothing to lose at this point. I didn't care what happened, I just wanted to go out with a bang. So my first task was to go to Ronan and CJ, and talk about things. I knew they would be pissed off, and I knew they would want revenge against me for lying. But instead of begging for forgiveness (the smarter route), I took the dangerous path instead. I just lied my butt off!"

Isabella: "I planned to tell them I voted for Jay, but there was one catch. I was very busy the day after the TC and wasn't online for almost an entire day. If you ever wondered why we were all online for ten hours a day, you'll find out right now. Not being on that day cost me a lot."

Mario (email to Ronan on day 22): "Congratulations on the Jay vote. He will not be missed. But I know that from your comments at TC that you were accusing me of voting for Lindsay. But I did NOT. I voted EXACTLY the way I said I would, for Jay, to break up the Jay-Anna alliance. Jay and I were not friends, that was no secret. I warned you and CJ about him back when you first came to Tumu. So in short, please don't accuse me of something before you have a chance to talk to me. I did exactly as I said I would. If you are looking for the rat, look for whomever was closest to Anna and Jay. The two of them probably voted the same, as well as Marcy. Add Bella to the mix and you have four. That leaves a fifth vote and IT WAS NOT ME. I will swear on a Bible if you wanted me to, I keep my promises. The question you are going to have to ask yourself is WHO voted with them last night. Because if you find that out, you will discover the key to the game."

Isabella: "When I finally came on that night, Jamie was around and I told him first. I came right out with it. I said that I had voted for Jay the first time, but during the re-vote I took CJ's words to heart, realized she meant it, and changed my vote to Lindsay. He bought it hook, line and sinker. The next day I made sure to be on to talk to CJ. I told her the whole story and I wondered why she was buying it as easily as Jamie did. I ended the conversation thinking I was a genius and planned to tell Ronan as soon as he came back on. But then it happened. I talked to Nick, and he decided to let me in on a little secret..."

Mario: "Isabella was too late. I had already told them, and CJ and Ronan had fallen for it I couldn't believe it. Without so much as a question, they COMPLETELY BOUGHT MY STORY! And I didn't expect it to work, I really didn't. I expected CJ to bitchslap me across the face. But for whatever reason, she didn't. They both still believed in Nick the youth minister."

Isabella: "Nick had gone to CJ the day before, when I wasn't around all day, and had told CJ almost exactly the same thing as I had! My mouth dropped open in shock. I didn't tell him what I had done, but I realized that #1-He had gotten to CJ first, which meant she was a thousand times more likely to believe him over me, #2-anyway, he had a penis, so she was a thousand times more likely to believe him, and #3-how the hell could a youth minister pull off a move like that and be on almost the exact same wavelength as me?"

And while Mario had saved his own skin for the time being, he had also unwittingly started a chain reaction. His story had unexpectedly set forth a series of actions... actions that would turn the game upside down.

Mario: "When I talked to CJ, I didn't even have to accuse anyone of backstabbing the Anas. I didn't even have to give her a name. She did it herself! All I said was that I DIDN'T vote for Lindsay, and CJ did all the rest. She went right after the girl who had backstabbed her boyfriend, and went after her with a vengeance. CJ knew the mystery vote was Kathy, and she came right out and told me."

CJ (to Mario): "Kathy is a frickin' turncoat!"

And once Kathy's name was thrown into the mix... the game was back on.



~~ CJ VERSUS KATHY ~~



Jamie: "After Jay met his fate, I figured I had the game locked. But then the trouble started. Bella tells CJ (and eventually me) that she had switched her vote and voted out Jay. Bella seemed at the time to be pretty trustworthy, so I believed her. Later Nick said the same thing, and who wouldn't want to believe a holy figure? Well, maybe if I were an altar boy, and mario was a 'celebate' priest, I might not want to believe him. And While it seems obvious now that they were both lying (and for my part, I thought that was probably the case)... Kathy just wasn't online at the time to refute it. She simply couldn't defend herself."

CJ: "Kathy knew she would be the first to go from Ana. She knew she was the outsider. And If I was in her place I would be scrambling to do whatever I had to do... which is why I just assumed she had flipped on us. I'm still not entirely sure why I trusted Mario so much but dude the man is convincing."

The action happened very fast at this point. The Anas were so complacent in their perceived victory that the CJ-Kathy feud hit them like a ton of bricks. No one knew what was happening, or why. They just knew that all of a sudden, CJ and Kathy hated one another, and no one really had the power to step in and stop it.

Kathy: "With Tenzil and Jayemel out of the picture, all my enemies were gone and the Anas were firmly in control. Or so I figured. And all of a sudden, I start getting hit with accusations left and right. 'Did you vote for Lindsay last night?' 'People are saying that you voted for Lindsay.' And at this point, I didn't know about the CJ-Tenzil romance-- I didn't know they were a couple. I just knew that it had come down to Tenzil or me. So I had no clue where the accusations were all coming from."

Ronan: "I was laying as low as possible. During this time, I was only logging in to talk to people because I needed to know where the vote was going. But mostly I was MIA, so I wasn't around to stop the fight. I didn't really even know about it."

Jamie: "What I knew at the time (but should have listened to more) was that Tenzil was the glue holding Ana together. Without him, we weren't a unit, but just individuals who would screw each other over in a second. And we did. The problem was that we just didn't have our center anymore. CJ was making deals everywhere and Kathy felt alienated. I should have pulled us together, but I figured no one was stupid enough to mess up the Pagonging. I didn't realize that CJ was mostly the cause of it."

Mario: "All of a sudden, the whole picture changed. And I'm not exaggerating when I say it was fast. Within an hour, CJ and Kathy were off calling each other names and I was floored. Could we possibly use this against them? Was there some way we could escape this Pagonging? I still didn't think we could, but what the heck, why not try? So I decided to go to my Tumu buddies, Anna, Isabella and Marcy, and see if we could work something. But first, there was something I probably had to do..."



~~ COMING CLEAN ~~



Anna: "Nick never really struck me as a fake. I was raised in a very religious background, so I was very familiar with religious people and their foibles. Plus, I didn't have a TON of respect for Mormons. So the fact that he was outwardly religious but a liar and a joker (whose jokes would not all have been church approved) didn't seem at all strange to me. He was a religious hypocrite. So what? The world is full of those. Just gave me more reasons to not be a Mormon."

Jamie: "Around this time, Nick was finally starting to talk to me. We never had talked much before. And as much as it was him just getting to know me, I think that he was only trying to save his ass. I had heard many a tale about the "wonderful" Nick from CJ and his Numero Uno Groupie Ronan. Ronan told me whoppers such as Nick was related to Neleh, that they were fourth cousins twice removed (or something like that), that he was a baseball coach, and that he was a youth minister. I wasn't one to question his identity directly, but the thought had occured to me that it was weird that a youth minister (or someone so wholesome) would take time out of his busy day converting souls in the name of Brigham Young to play some jerkoff online game. But then I asked the same question of myself, but exchange "converting souls in the name of Brigham Young" with "spanking the monkey to pictures of Tawny Roberts." Mostly, I never totally believed his story of being a youth minister, but at the time I didn't care, he was a Tumu, and the Tumu's time was up."

Mario: "My credibility as a youth minister was just about gone. Sure, CJ and Ronan believed me, but I knew people on my own team thought I was full of crap. Marcy, for one, just HATED Nick. He had since day one. I knew Anna had her doubts too and I really didn't think they'd want a religious hypocrite around anymore. And maybe I was bored... maybe I was depressed... maybe I just wanted to brag. I don't know. But I decided to tell them my name wasn't Nick. I went up to Marcy first and spilled my guts. I figured if nothing else, maybe he would hate me less."

Anna: "All of a sudden Nick tells, "I have something to tell you, but I need to finish up with Marcy first". When he came back, he dropped the truth on me. His entire game had been a lie, but more importantly, he was mariofreakinglanzathebestsurvivorcolumnistever!!!!! You see, I was a HUGE fan. Such a huge fan that it never occured to me to feel angry, upset, or betrayed... I mean, if mariofreakinglanza wanted to betray me, that would be my honor."

Mario: "Anna took it well, I couldn't believe it. She wasn't even mad. And I THOUGHT Marcy had taken it well too, but I had missed the cues. I didn't realize until later that he just went and told as many people as he could. That little prick."

Isabella: "Marcy was the one who told me Nick wasn't really Mormon, he wasn't really a minister, and he wasn't even really Nick. My mouth dropped open. I was shocked beyond belief, I just couldn't believe it. Then it all just started to make sense. That's how he could be so sneaky. It just floored me. Me, Isabella, master strategist, fooled. But Marcy had a reason for telling me. He wanted Nick, now Mario (it felt really odd calling him Mario), gone. Marcy's head was back in the game and he was now ready to play. He had a plan, we should go in with Kathy and some others and get him out. Mario had lied to ALL of us. So right away we talked to Kathy and told her that Nick was indeed Mario Lanza. She was furious, and she hadn't even liked Nick to start, so she definitely didn't like Mario."

All of a sudden, deals were flying left and right. The whole game had changed. CJ still hated Kathy. Kathy was very wary of CJ. And now Kathy loathed Mario. Things were ready to blow up, and that is where Anna stepped in. Anna, the girl who had not schemed for the entire game, indeed had not even tried. And now, it was time for Anna to start making things happen.

Anna: "Up to this point in the game, I had played pretty honestly and above-board. It wasn't just than I consider myself an ethical person or am concerned with honest and integrity, it's that I'm a rotten liar. I ALWAYS get caught. If I tried to play the game "sneaky", I wouldn't last 3 days. This had always been my attitude, so I had played the game as honestly as any previous Survivor."

But with Mario trying his best to get in good with CJ and Ronan, and Kathy furious at both Mario AND CJ, Anna knew the situation was ripe for the picking.

Anna: "The Tumus came back together for a report. Mario was going to try to get CJ to vote off Kathy, and I volunteered to try to get Kathy to vote off CJ. A little effort could never hurt. Especially since I discovered *I* was to be the first designated Pagonging victim. That'll light a fire under your tushie! So, I waited until Kathy had had a chance to talk to all the Anas, and sure enough, they all blamed her, TO HER FACE, of being a traitor."

Anna started to work on Kathy, striking up a friendship with the moody Ana outcast. The two of them hit it off right away, and genuinely seemed to like one another.

Kathy: "Then Anna came to me, and told me that "Nick", CJ, Ronan, and Isabella had a final four pact. If that was true (and I had no reason to doubt Anna at this point), I figured I was destined for a seventh or eighth place finish. I knew CJ hated me, although I still didn't know why."

One of the things Anna decided to exploit was CJ's ability to flirt with all the men in the game. Kathy had never been fond of this, and Anna went in right for the kill. Anna decided to reference a long-standing Tongan rumor, that CJ had once sent naked pictures of herself to Taylor, in an attempt to seduce him.

Anna: "I started to accuse CJ of every misdeed under the sun, including sending naked photos of herself to every man in the game, including the married ones. I told her that Nick had received the photos too, and that is why he was in with CJ now. I said that Nick was no better than CJ, but I just didn't think I could convince Marcy and Isabella to vote against him, and that besides, he and CJ were in an alliance. But I said I was pretty sure I could get the votes to vote off CJ. I'm not sure why she believed me, but the emotion of being accused of being a traitor had to help my cause."

Kathy was now confused. Anna had planted the seeds of doubt in her mind, and her hatred of Mario didn't seem to make things any easier. Everywhere she looked, she saw CJ and Mario together. Maybe Anna was right...

Mario: "Anna and I were working as a team. Her job was to make Kathy think I was in love with CJ, and my job was to stay by CJ's side as much as I could. I wanted to be her best friend, and make sure Kathy knew about it. Not only did I want Kathy to think she had been replaced, I wanted her to KNOW that it had been by me, and I wanted to laugh and be gleeful about it. I would just refuse to speak with Kathy, I don't think I ever instant messaged her, on purpose. In short, I just wanted Kathy to hate me as much as was humanly possible."

And at this time, Anna decided she wanted a final two pact with Mario. No more messing around, if she was going to play dirty, she wanted to make sure he would be with her to the end on this.

Anna (to Mario on day 22): "I just want one thing from you. I'm screwing a lot of people over now. That's fine. So are you. But Bella's not taking any heat at all. So I want a final two pact. If this works, I don't want you taking Bella to the final two and claiming the "respect" angle. So as long as we're clear on that... let's go fu** over some Anas!"

Mario and Anna would be in it as a team from here on out.

Mario: "We were like a damn wrecking ball together. The Anas didn't stand a chance."

Almost immediately, Kathy and CJ were ripped apart. Anna told Kathy about all the nasty names CJ was calling her, and all the jokes the Anas told about her. According to Anna, the Anas mocked Kathy almost mercilessly. And since Anna was not known to lie, soon Kathy was taking her alliance offer. Kathy and Anna now had a final two alliance. And Mario, for his part, was doing a number on CJ at the same time.

Mario: "I told her all this 'info' about Kathy. I said that Kathy was now aligned with Anna because she thought CJ was a bitch. Oh, and that Kathy thought CJ was a slut. I went right for the jugular and CJ was soon spitting even more venemous rage out at poor Kathy. But the absolute key to the plan was the reward challenge. It was for a glass bottom boat ride, and the winner could take one person along. I put ALL my energy into winning, and luckily, I pulled it off. So for my partner, even though she finished low in the standings, I chose CJ to come along with me. And I made NO bones about why I chose her, either. I simply smiled and Kathy, and winked. 'That's right,' I tried to say, 'I replaced you because I'm better than you. No one likes you here, so try and stop me.'"

At this point, the Anas started to realize that things were veering out of control. They hadn't noticed quick enough, but the game was slowly slipping away from them.

Ronan: "At this time I also knew that Kathy and CJ were having some difficulty. But what I DIDN'T know was it was going to blow up right there and then."

Jamie: "At this point in the game, I was just trying to play nice to Tumu (they'll say I was an asskisser) for their votes at the end. If I could go back to any one point and do it over, this is the place I would go. I knew that I had a strong connection to everyone in the tribe (wellll, strong is a relative term). I at least had what Rob C. would call a "working relationship" with everyone. I had no intention of screwing an Ana at this early stage and I assumed that no one else would either. But at this point, I SHOULD have sent out an Ana-wide email saying "We are a team, we are in it together! No one screws anyone until the final 5. Together we will do no worse then 5th, apart, the best we can get is 5th." Or some other poetic nonsense. I should have asked Jay to write it, but no doubt he was probably still bitter. But I didn't. I didn't think it needed to be said, but obviously it did. Ana killed itself on its own sword."

And the vote still could have gone either way. Kathy was still waffling over her voting options. But then... the Anas were hit with another severe blow. Outside forces intervened and, in the crazy world of online Survivor, suddenly Lindsay was missing. One of the key members of the Ana tribe was missing...

...because she had been grounded.

Anna: "No one had seen Lindsay for a few days, and now we found out she had been grounded. She was just gone, and wasn't around to help her team. It took a TON of effort to get Kathy to vote for CJ, and I still doubt I could have done it if Lindsay had been there."

Mario won his second immunity challenge in a row, and suddenly CJ was in a perilous situation. She had no idea that Kathy was thinking of voting her out, and no idea that Nick wasn't really who she thought he was.


~~ CJ'S FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL ~~


Kathy: "I agreed to vote for CJ, but I still hadn't quite made up my mind. I thought about it all night, going back and forth for hours. Anna or CJ. Neither choice really appealed to me, but I had to pick one. All of this came on me so suddenly, and I still didn't even know what was going on.

Isabella: "I could've voted out Anna, proved my loyalty to Ana and gotten a long way, or risked trying to take out CJ. I had the choice, but in effect my mind was already made up. What really helped me decide was knowing that CJ had cheated during the Jay vote. I didn't even want her on the jury. I had wanted her out since I found out she cheated but would have never guessed I could have the opportunity this soon. I still liked Jamie and Ronan... but CJ, I wanted her gone. So Marcy and I had talked, and I eventually convinced him to help us vote off CJ this time. He also liked the idea of Tumu coming out on top after all, even if it meant Mario got stay around for a few more days."

Mario: "When I won immunity, it was all but cemented. Kathy couldn't vote for me, so to break up the perceived Mario-CJ final two, Kathy had no choice. She had to vote for CJ. I even baited her in Tribal Council that night, trying to piss her off with my smug and cocky answers. God, she must have hated me."

Kathy: "Finally, I cast my vote for CJ, figuring that at least I could break up the alliance, and get rid of the one person who was after me."

Without Lindsay or Ronan around, and Jamie powerless to stop it, the CJ-Kathy feud now ripped the Ana tribe apart. In a complete shock to most of the Anas, CJ was voted out.

Jamie: "The first few votes were for Anna, but then I was in for the shock of my life... CJ was gone 5-4. I did some quick calculations in my head, and realized that this shouldn't have happened. But it did. Oh how the tables have turned. I instantly called the bank to cancel the million dollar loan I had taken out against my future winnings and realized that I was gonna have to play the game again alot sooner then I had previously figured."

CJ: "I'll tell ya, I sat there for about five minutes speechless. In no way did I think I was in danger. At that point I remember thinking that Kathy just made an extremely stupid move-- whether she liked me or not."

Isabella: "I really have to give it to Mario. When he decides he wants something he goes for it, and for some reason, this time he decided he didn't just want to save himself, he wanted to save all of Tumu. I also really give it to Anna for pulling off her first strategic move of the game. She was showing she was a lot better at this game than I had thought, and had the chops to do what needed to be done. In essence, she was becoming a force to be reckoned with."

All of a sudden, the Pagonging was gone. Ana had turned on itself, Kathy was the turncoat of Tonga, and Mario was now the most hated player in the game. And soon... things were about to get even worse.

Kathy: "A couple days later, I would realize I'd made the worst mistake in the game."

EPISODE 9 - Et Tu, Ronan?

Pulotu Tribe: Anna, Isabella, Jamie, Kathy, Lindsay, Marcy, Mario(Nick), Ronan

Anna (confessional from day 25): "What a screwy game. I am ecstatic, elated, excited, energized... I didn't trust Kathy to vote with us, and then she did! I am so happy! I survived! I survived! I survived! Woohoo!"

Jamie: "By now, I realized that Tenzil's going had been a mistake. He was the leader, and we needed him. As much as I came to like her, Kathy was the one who should have gone. She was on the fringe (unfairly I might add) but on the fringe. She was an outsider, and I don't blame her for voting for CJ. I'm still a little pissed that something like that could go down, something so fundamental to my staying on the island, and for me to have almost no idea it was brewing. And that someone as smart as CJ and Kathy fucked up a perfectly good pagonging... it just doesn't happen."

The Pagonging was over, and the game was back up in the air. The Pulotu tribe now consisted of four Anas (Jamie, Kathy, Ronan, Lindsay) and four Tumutumus (Isabella, Marcy, Anna, Mario). And while Anna and Mario had somehow managed to get themselves back in the game, they definitely hadn't won any friends in the process. And while Anna was destined to take some heat for her scheming, it was nothing compared to what was going to happen to her alliance partner. Mario was now, officially, the most hated player in Tonga.

Isabella: "Once he 'came out', his personality did a 180. He was no longer religous, mature, or trustworthy. He was now willing to do anything, wanted attention, would backstab whoever. In short, if he wasn't going to win, he was going to go out with a big bang. Also, I just thought he was a pussy for getting soft and letting down his guard. If I was playing a personality (which I was in many ways) I wouldn't have let it down for the world. He had given up and told us all his secret. That was despicable to me."

Mario: "People could not have hated me more after that vote. Especially Kathy. I think if she could, she would have literally found a way to murder me. And all of a sudden... everyone knew who I was, all because of Marcy. He had told everyone. I like to refer to the next phase of the game as 'KILL NICK!' It became a contest of who could vote me out the fastest, and I felt like I was being hunted. And really, sometimes I'm just stubborn. When I found out everyone hated me, I just took the attitude of... well you all hate me already, let's see how far I can push you into hating me more. Sometimes I don't play strategically, sometimes I play just to amuse myself, or just to prove a point. And that's what happened here. All of a sudden my whole game changed, and I kind of crossed the line into flat out nastiness."

Mario thought he was safe, but even his own teammates were against him now. Marcy was definitely after him, and Isabella was doing so as well. Isabella even coined a new name for her once "trustworthy" teammate.

Isabella: "His whole personality change just rubbed me the wrong way after knowing 'Nick' for so long. I had even nick-named him "Coach" and he wasn't even a coach! So I thought it was time for a new nickname. I thought there was an animal that suited him perfectly; one that scurried around in the dark trying to get at anything, but never smart enough to get under cover properly before the lights came on. A roach. He was no longer a Coach, now he was a Roach. I called him that from there-on out in all my confessionals. Roach."

Mario: "The thing with Isabella and me was such a strange dynamic. I had NO CLUE she was a schemer at all. None. I thought she was this clueless twit, this airhead secretary who you had to tell what to do. She would just giggle and laugh and say how funny I was. She was the ONLY Tumu I didn't tell my true identity to. And get this... it was because I thought she would cry. I thought she was too fragile to tell. How's that for irony? Also, Anna and I commented a lot on how stupid she seemed, completely unaware that Bella was putting on an act. Anna was convinced that Isabella was borderline retarded at some point, because she just seemed to get stupider as the game went along. And then stupid me, I'd go tell Isabella every plan I ever had. I had no idea she hated my guts!"

Anna (confessional from day 25): "Bella is an enigma. A total and complete wildcard in this game. She is playing a very smart, very tight game, and I just can't figure out if she realizes it or not. She'll go very far, and she hasn't DONE anything yet."

But in any case, the Tumus were still together, as strange as that sounded. They were still aligned as a team, even if they all seeemed to be mustrustful of one another.

Anna (confessional from day 26): "Everyone keeps telling me that Bella had always been in on the Jenne vote. She won't admit it though! That's driving me nuts. Either they are all wrong, or she's a huge liar! But why would she lie? There's no reason to anymore. I forgave all the others, and I'd forgive her. What's her motivation? Either she's not lying, she's afraid to come clean after all this time, or she's afraid to change her story without permission from Nick. I can't figure out which it is. I vacillate wildly."


~~ LINDSAY IS MISSING ~~


The tribes were split again, 4-4, and most anything could happen now. Kathy had no idea where she stood, with ANYBODY. And with Lindsay still missing, the rest of the Anas knew they were in trouble. They were a vote short. So naturally, they started to scramble. They fought to save their own skin, all of them rushing into the best deal they could find.

Jamie: "After CJ was gone, I knew I was fucked. I ran to Anna and Bella, trying to make a deal. I knew by now that Nick wasn't innocent, and I was right. I made him my target. I also tried to make Bella and Anna think that I had been the unwitting pawn of CJ. I told them I wanted to play an ethical game, and that we needed to be the final four (with Kathy as the fourth). I figured that I had no other choice."

Anna: "I took his deal, of course. If he wanted to make an ethical alliance, well go right ahead. As long as he didn't realize Mario and I were working together, I didn't care what he thought."

Isabella: "I knew Jamie would be running to me now that CJ was gone, and he had his jogging sneakers on cause he was talking to me in no time. I assured him I had to do it and I never meant to vote HIM out, just CJ, and he seemed okay with that. But I laughed because now, all the sudden, he wanted to form an alliance with me when two days ago he was "seeing what he could do" in regards to me. He still never mentioned forming a F2 alliance, but he wanted to get some people in, possibly Kathy and Anna, and vote out Roach. He, like most people, really disliked Roach and just wanted him gone (or maybe a better way to put it was, he just didn't want to be voted out himself). I actually liked Jamie and his idea. I didn't tell him, but I knew it could be done. If I wanted to, Roachy would've been voted out next. I knew Marcy and Lindsay would've gone along with it for sure. And I was pretty sure I could get Kathy on board. It was all really a matter of if I wanted to vote out Roach next or not."

But the Anas were grasping at straws. Jamie was putting all his faith in Anna and Bella. Kathy was still trying to hang on to her friendship with Anna. And Ronan, suddenly returning back online, was stunned to find the game completely out of Ana control.

Mario: "For whatever reason, Ronan still bought my youth minister story. He was the only one in the game who did, and I had no idea why. EVERYBODY else knew, and I had no idea why he was being so dense. He came right to me, unaware I had screwed him TWICE now, and he asked if our deal was still on!"

Ronan: "We were doomed. Lindsay was nowhere to be found. Kathy had turned on us, so it was only me and the Jamester left. So I went to Coach and I asked for his help. I wanted to team up with him and Bella. I knew that he was the one who held the power on Tumu, contrary to what he would say. He always denied it. But if he told Bella to shift, she would shift. I said that we should work together, and at the final five, I’d gladly step aside and leave Coach, Bella, Lindsay and Jamie as the final four. But the problem was that Jamie just didn't like Coach. No one did. So the deal was off."


~~ BLOODBATH ~~


Mario: "This is the point in the game that it really sort of turned personal. For me, anyway. You see, it was pretty common in the game for booted people to instant message those who were still in it. It happened all the time, against the rules but really no big deal. And now I started getting instant messages from CJ. It turned out she HAD figured out who I was, and was NOT happy with how I had screwed her. She thought it was unfair that I had known who she was, but not vice versa. She was hurt, she was upset, and she warned me that she had 'planted some seeds' about me to the Anas before she had left. I knew she was full of BS, but then... Anna sent me an email."

Anna (email to Mario): "Jamie accused you of playing the "Andy Kaufman strategy". Called it by name. He sent me the link to your article. Says CJ clued him in... before she left. I played dumb, and he argued started getting persuasive, convincing me. Gig's up?"

Mario:: "I was LIVID. I immediately told our host that Jamie should be disqualified, because he was communicating with CJ. I said she had blown my cover and it wasn't fair. But Rafe argued that Jamie had broken no rules and was playing fair. And so if HE wouldn't do something, I decided I would take my revenge on my own."

Jamie:: "CJ never told me a thing, I already knew. A day or so earlier, I heard from Kathy (who had appologized alot for voting out CJ, though she had a point) that rumor had it that "Nick" was playing a character named Andy Kaufman. I recognized the name, and went back to read the article written by one Mario Lanza. Sure enough, Nick Daniels fit it to a 'T'. That was enough for me. I didn't know WHO Nick was specifically, I just knew that he was a fake. That was when I decided to go to Anna with my plans for the ethical alliance."

Mario: "I didn't care who told who at that point. I was mad, and I just wanted to get back at someone. So I made it my personal mission to destroy Jamie at this point. I knew he didn't trust me, and I knew I didn't like him. I decided to wage unrelenting holy war on all of the Anas from this point on. I even told Rafe I was going to start tainting the camp food supply. Since I was the cook, I had access to their stomachs, and I wanted to start making people sick. I would show them. And... yeah... from day 26 or so on, the game just turned into a bloodbath."

Jamie: "Nick by now realized that his final 2 hopes were back on, and while not gloating too much-- started campaigning for my jury vote! I was pretty much at my low point in the game. I was the next target almost by default, so I wasn't up to my usual game of bullshitting that Nick and I usually played. I pretty came out and told Nick that I wasn't buying his act, and as much as he denied it, I knew he had a lot of power in Tumu."

Mario: "Jamie told me that he was onto me, and that he wanted me out. He told me it was now his life's mission to keep me from winning. And I thought, oh you did NOT just say that, asshole."


~~ TENSION AT TRIBAL COUNCIL ~~


Two names were on the chopping block, although it was still up in the air who would be leaving. Would it be Jamie, or would it be Mario? Anna lined up behind Mario, while Kathy lined up behind Jamie. The rest of the players were swing votes, and still had yet to make up their minds. And of course, everyone was wondering what was up with Lindsay. Would she come back in time for the vote? And if she did, who would she vote for?

Mario: "This was probably my best move of the game, and it had to do with the rules Rafe had designed for us. One of the biggest factors of the game was your 'cunning' score. It was a number you assigned yourself at the start of the game, and would be used throughout the game to help you in mental activities. Basically, the higher your score, the smarter your character was. And our host made a ruling here about the Lindsay situation, involving cunning."

The ruling stated that if Lindsay did not return to the game in time for Tribal Council, her vote would be cast randomly. Although if a player had a HIGH enough cunning score, they might be able to deduce who she would vote for. And sure enough, most players got an email the next day, saying that Lindsay was going to vote for one of two people: Jamie or Anna.

Mario: "And at this point I just lied. I didn't want Jamie and company to ride that Anna vote to a possible tie, so I did my best to break it up. I told people that my cunning score was really high, so my email had been different than theirs. I said that mine said simply 'Lindsay will vote for Jamie.' I never mentioned anything about Anna. And this news worked especially well on Ronan. Ronan simply panicked."

Since a tie was now impossible, Ronan went to Mario and practically begged him for an alliance at this point, wanting some security. For whatever reason, Ronan STILL bought Mario's ethical act.

Mario: "And when I kept repeating that 'I want a good guy to win this thing,' Ronan never called me on it. He just seemed to accept everything I said. I lied and said that Kathy and Anna controlled the game, but I could help keep him safe if he trusted me. I said just 'promise not to vote for me, and I will help you out.' So Ronan promised, and that really was all it took. The Anas couldn't get four votes now."

And now... just when it appeared the game couldn't get more confusing... Lindsay returned. She was back from being grounded.

Lindsay: "I came back, and I won immunity right away. But the Anas were down in numbers because of last vote and Kathy. She betrayed us. And since I was immune, all the Tumu eyes were on the Ana powerhouse, Jamie. I offered him my immunity, but he wouldn't take it. He thought he still had a chance."

Jamie: "I was touched by her offer, but I didn't want to owe her. If I got through this vote, I knew she would soon be in the crosshairs and I didn't want her to come to me at the final 6 or so and ask me to save her saying that I owed her. I must admit that her gesture was probably the nicest thing anyone did for me in the game, but I just couldn't take it."

Jamie now had Lindsay and Kathy behind him, and Mario had Ronan and Anna. Now it was 3-3. And that left just two votes hanging in the air.

Marcy and Isabella wanted Mario out. They wanted him out BAD. But even so, Marcy realized the advantages of old tribal loyalty, and decided to stick with Mario... for now. He was going to vote for Jamie. And that just left Isabella, who hadn't yet decided if this was the time to make a break from Tumu. She was still carefully weighing her options.

Isabella: "It came down to Jamie or Roach. Jamie came to me right before TC and offered me an alliance. Of course I promised him and even shook on it. He even told me Lindsay, Kathy and Anna were gonna vote for Roach as well, so it was a done deal. Our 'ethical alliance' would vote out Roach, and we'd be set for the end. Anna was in, but I already knew she had no intention of honoring this. However, I also knew Roach could still be voted out. And how did I know? Why, because of Roach of course. He had decided to brag and tell how hopefully Ronan wouldn't be voting for him, although not for Jamie either. Therefore before my vote, I was assuming it'd be 3 Roach and 3 Jamie and I decided (again!) who'd be voted out."

This was going to be a tight vote. And yet Mario was unaware that Isabella was THIS close to taking him out of the game. He thought he had this vote in the bag.

Mario: "I knew they couldn't vote me out. I had Ronan, he simply wouldn't vote for me. So they were shit out of luck on this one. Ronan was on my side and I knew he kept his promises. Bless his little heart."

Ronan: "Kathy had approached me and asked that we, the original Anas, vote for Nick. That way, we could at least have a chance of a 4-4 tie. It wasn’t good enough for me. Besides that, the target was Nick or, as I like to call him, Coach Mario."

Anna: "I had promised Kathy and Jamie I would vote for Mario before Tribal Council, but I didn't. It was the second time I betrayed Kathy, and I was pretty sure she was on to me by now. I certainly wasn't winning many friends. Besides, it was FUN to play dirty. I was having a blast."

The eight members of Pulotu went to Tribal Council, where Isabella FINALLY made her decision. She had mulled it over, and as much as she hated to do it, she decided to keep Mario in the game. Together with Marcy, she voted along tribal lines. She voted for Jamie.

Isabella: "Out of all the players in the game, Jamie was one of my favorites. I liked to flirt with him for fun, but I wasn't really attracted. I just liked the way he played and he had a lot of spirit. He never gave up; he would've fought and did fight all the way until his flame was extinguished. I really respected that. And I was all set to vote out Roach. It was gonna be great. Another classic unheaval of power, but me still at the helm, as always. But then, something came to me. Something unexpected. A sudden idea. And it defined the entire rest of the game. I voted out Jamie, and had the new plan of taking to the Final 2 none other than my beloved Roach."

In a very tense outcome, Jamie was voted out 4-3-1. Ronan had cast his lone vote for Kathy. He had upheld his promise not to vote for Mario... and decided not to force the tie. Mario was spared by one vote.

Ronan: "If there was any chance that an original Ana would win this thing, I screwed it up. Look for an Ana Pagonging."

Jamie: "I credit my loss to other people's stupidity, not so much anything that I did (other then not pulling Ana together). And while I was surprised I went, I wasn't shocked. Anna managed to play along with me pretty well, but I always had an inkling that I would probably go. I just figured that it was my last best shot. I almost pulled it off too but, unlike Ana, Tumu had some tribal loyalty. And once again the Anas screwed themselves over. We could have at least tied it again, and maybe lady luck would shine twice on the problem tribe known as Ana. But Ronan simply wouldn't vote for Mario. It was like he was in love with the guy or something. And I never expected that Ronan would be the one to do me in. Et tu Ronan?"

With Jamie gone, the Tumus were now up 4-3. And in a Survivor first... the Pagonging had now OFFICIALLY been reversed. The Tumus could now waltz their way to victory.

Mario (voting for Jamie): "I must say you have earned my respect. You are one of the smart ones. But at the same time, you once told me it was your life's mission to stop me from getting to the final two. And that's really kind of tragic... because you failed miserably. You failed at your life's goal, you pathetic turd. Once again, this proves that your entire life, not to mention your existence, have been a joke. Your entire life is a sickening waste, and you are therefore a fraud and a loser. Nice try, boy genius. Better luck next time."

EPISODE 10 - Light My Fire

Pulotu Tribe: Anna, Isabella, Kathy, Lindsay, Marcy, Mario(Nick), Ronan

Mario (confessional from day 28): "Well, it worked. We are the final four now, and there's no way the Anas can stop us. I know they will TRY, but it aint gonna happen. Lindsay is next, and she is now officially dead meat. I don't give second chances. It was nice to know you, but your days are over. Your ass is about to be kicked to the curb. As for Kathy, well I guess it's nice to know that she's helpless now. She has NO allies. I imagine we'll see a little sucking up at this point. She'll be going for Bella, or Anna, and trying to get me off. She's another one I could give a rat's ass about. Feh. Ronan is the only Ana left whom I respect, and like. Ronan, when you see this on TV, know that I will do everything in my power to spare you as long as possible. You do what you say you will, even though you got played pretty badly in the past few votes. But you are honorable. Just not a particularly good player."

The Tumus now controlled the game. Anna, Isabella, Marcy and Mario were now in complete control of the tribe. Anna and Mario were working as a team, Marcy's interest in the game came and went, and Isabella was still completely underestimated. The Tumus had not figured out her act yet at ALL.

Isabella: "By this time, something strange had happened. I'd fallen into playing the sweet, nice, innocent, slightly stupid girl very, very well and absolutely EVERYONE was buying it. I was getting really good at it too, I was thinking I should have gone into acting as a profession. But I did notice one thing. Now that the end-game was getting nearer, I needed people to know I was a good player too. And though I knew everyone LIKED me, I also knew people were thinking I was a little stupid, that I was just latching on to others and that I was lucky. I wasn't sure how to solve this. I couldn't break out of character or people would know they'd been deceived, so I had to show I was a player but still be the nice girl they'd come to love. I just couldn't see how I could do both things at the same time."

Sure enough, Isabella was dead on. People HAD written her off as being stupid. Mario and Anna, specifically, more or less considered her to be worthless. The two of them already considered themselves to be the final two.

Mario: "By now, Anna and I were a team. In my mind, it was no longer "Mario" or "Anna." It was "MarioandAnna." We worked together on EVERYTHING. At Tribal Council, we gave fake answers to throw everybody off the track. No one knew we were friends. I told everyone that she and Kathy were calling the shots, and Anna told everyone that she hated me. It was so much fun, we really got into it too. At the Jamie vote, I told people to watch Anna's answers, she would start every sentence with a "J" if Jamie was going or a "M" if Marcy was going. Of course, Anna threw in a few "R" answers just to make Ronan soil his pants. It was too funny. And oh.. Bella? Nah, we didn't care about her. She just did what we said. And as for Marcy, I remember thinking that if Marcy won this game, I would throw up in my mouth. Puhlease."

Isabella: "I knew I was in a tricky situation, but then it came to me. I made the decision to just keep playing this personality, this stupid girl, full blast to the F2. Before, I had thought I'd gradually reveal my more competitive, intelligent side, but now I had a better idea, and one that I thought was much more fun. Keep playing this part all the way to the finals. When I get to the Final 2, just surprise the hell out of everyone by telling them everything in the Final TC. I'd tell them I wasn't really a secretary and that I'd been playing this "part" through the whole game just to get there. Basically, my plan was to tell them they'd all been played, and by me, and I deserved to win for doing such a good job of it."


~~ A BREWING SHOWDOWN ~~


So now things were set for a very deliberate Pagonging. Tumu had four, Ana had three, and there wasn't much anybody could do about it. Lindsay, Ronan and Kathy were doomed, and the game was about to get boring.

Mario (confessional from day 28): "Well, the days of tedium are here. The game is officially getting boring. Marcy has given up and wants out. Ronan has given up and is trying to come off like a martyr. Kathy doesn't want to talk to anyone. Bella wants to know if we are winning or 'doing good.' Ho hum, same as usual."

Ronan: "I knew it was my vote that got Jamie evicted, and this was the lowest point of my experience in Tonga. I apologized profusely to Kathy and Lindsay. Lindsay was kind enough to answer back and forgave me, but I received no word from Kathy. I knew that any chance that we three could have to get on top was ruined. Kathy wouldn't even talk to me."

Isabella: "Tumu was now in the majority for the first time since the merge. Not that we were all really an alliance, but Anna and Mario were assuming we'd be the F4 with Marcy. They had no idea how close I was to voting out Roach last time."

Mario: "Unlike the Anas, we weren't going to let it slip away. True, Marcy wasn't my biggest fans, but he knew I despised the Anas and the Anas despised me. I wasn't going to turn against my own team, simply because I was enjoying kicking the Anas when they were down so much. And besides, I would be an easy win in the final two and everybody knew it. I pretty much had it made for a while."

Mario's plan, obviously, was to get to the end with Anna. The two of them had made an excellent team thus far and, most importantly, believed nobody was onto them yet. They were doing their best to hide their friendship, despite the fact that they stayed online far more than anyone else, just talking about ways to mess with people in the game.

Mario (confessional from day 28): "I would like to go to the final two with Anna because she is clearly the only other player here who deserves to be left at the end. So I intend to stick with her all the way. And it's not just a friendship thing, or a loyalty thing, although I like her very much. It is simply a fairness thing. If I lose, I do NOT want to say I lost to Marcy, a 17 year old. And I'm not losing to fucking BELLA! If I lose, it is Anna or nothing. She is the only one who I would be happy with if I lost."

But despite all their caution, and all their stealthiness, Anna and Mario were not hidden from everybody. Isabella soon picked up on their friendship, and was definitely getting wary of their close bond with one another.

Isabella: "Anna was on Instant Messenger all the time, but lately she had a lot of work to do so she'd put an "away" message on her IM and I was fine with that. However, Anna was just too easy to figure out. She thought she was being so sneaky, like a little kid who steals a cookie while an adult is standing right behind them watching. Whenever Roach would come online, right away her away message would go off. And then 5 minutes later when he'd go offline, her away message would go right back on. And the entire time she wouldn't IM me a single word. Yeah, very smooth. So I was figuring Anna and Roach had more going on than meets the eye. I knew right then I didn't want to be in the Final 3 with the two of them together."

With the Tumus set for now, they all spent their time trying to deal with the tedium of the game. Mario dreamed up new ways to torment Kathy and Lindsay before they were sent packing. Anna did her best to get in good with the future Ana jury members. Marcy wasn't on as much, so he more or less was forgotten for a while. And Isabella was slowly but surely managing to weave herself into every aspect of the game. She had bonds with everyone, was feared by nobody, and was coming up with new ways every day to make herself indispensable around camp.

Isabella: "I knew as a searcher I was needed at Tumu. But after the merge, lots of other people had started searching for food every day too. They were asking me for help showing them where the fruit trees were and the best way to catch fish. So, for example, one day Kathy and Jamie asked me to show them how to catch fish and where the fish were. I took them down there and then proceeded to act like I was showing them the right way to do it while in fact showing them the complete wrong way to do it. I ended up catching a lot of fish that day and Kathy and Jamie, even though they tried very hard and used a lot of energy, hardly caught anything."

Isabella loved the game and, despite all of Mario and Anna's antics, SHE was proving to be the most devious player out here. The only person she had ever shown her true side to, Jayemel, was long gone, and Anna and Mario were far too busy trying to mess with the Anas to pay her any attention. She was in the position to control everything that happened in the game, and nobody even realized it.

Mario: "Anna and I had done all the work. We broke the Anas apart, and Bella sat on her ass and just followed along. At this point, I had COMPLETELY written her off. I basically dissolved all my emotional attachment to her and hitched my wagon to Anna instead. I decided that Anna was the only one here who was my strategic equal. Isabella was dead to me. Who was she again? That ditzy girl with no strategy? No thanks, I'm not losing to Amber, thank you very much."

It was evident that another showdown was brewing, and this one was going to be big.

Isabella (confessional from day 27): "Oh, Roach, the tangled webs we weave. It's funny how you can't even play with your own strategy. Pussy. Finally caved in, chickened out. If you would've carried it out full swing, I would've respected you immensely, but now I have no respect left for you. You're as bad as any other Survivor who falls apart. And now Roach you're scrambling around doing anything to last a little longer. I must admit, I do it similarly, but I don't kiss and tell."

Mario (confessional from day 28): "Anna and I made a final two pact yesterday. And if we get that far, she is going with me. Bella is the backup plan, but a lot would have to go wrong for her to get there. She just doesn't deserve it, she has done nothing."

Isabella (confessional from day 28): "All the sudden I see the value in Roach being in the F2 with me. I've thought a lot about the entire game thus far. Rafe put the two of us in that canoe for a reason. He knew we were the biggest schemers on the island and we were both going in planning to lie to everyone. And I can see the beauty in the two of us being the F2, but in reality my motives are much more strategic and selfish. Most people think he will be an easy win in the Final 2, but I don't think that way at all. He has won like half of the challenges so far and, while he is disliked, he is definitely playing a hard game. Also, he is a writer, so his F2 answers are going to be compelling and thought-provoking, not to mention entertaining. But since I think I'll beat anyone, I want to go up against someone challenging. I think we would be a great F2, and I would love to show him up. I know if it was him and me, he'd be going into the Final TC thinking he'd be the star of the F2 and the show, only to be bitch-slapped by meek little Isabella when I let out the bombshell that I played everyone and am not even really a secretary."



~~ FIRST VICTIM ~~



Really, at this point, it was just a matter of who the Tumus wanted to pick off first. Would it be Lindsay, would it be Ronan, or would it be Kathy? And at the moment, all signs pointed to Lindsay, the athletic girl from Pennsylvania. She was definitely next on the hit list.

Isabella: "Kathy and Lindsay knew they were screwed. They were just sitting ducks. Ronan, on the other hand, was safe for now. I wanted him around, and I knew Roachy wanted him around. Anyway, Ronan was never there anyway. He was like the Invisible Man. Kathy was just odd. Point blank. I tried to become friends with her and she was nice enough, but she'd just leave conversations right in the middle without a word, and she wasn't on a lot anyway. I don't think she was very socially conscious. Lindsay was a sweetheart and I loved her, but I wanted her gone. I had wanted her gone last TC and I wanted her gone this one. Anna put up a small fight hoping to get Ronan out, but she saw the logic in getting Lindsay out. For me, I was becoming good friends with Lindsay, but she was just too impulsive and in it for fun, and I just didn't see how I could use her."

Mario: "I wanted Lindsay gone on day 3 when she beat me in the running contest. I wanted Lindsay gone at the merge when she survived the Tumu attack. I wanted Lindsay gone at the last vote when she teamed with Jamie to try and get me out. And I wanted Lindsay gone now because I just didn't like her. Nothing personal, though. Buh bye."

So Lindsay it would be. All four Tumus agreed to take her out and from that point on, things were on cruise control.

Mario: "I have a short attention span, and at this point I kind of got bored with the obvious direction of the game. So I decided to start stringing Ronan along again, and just mess with him. I don't know why, it just seemed fun at the time. So I just went up and told him that he was next, knowing it would scare the shit out of him. I said, 'Yeah you're next, but I don't think it's fair. You are an honest person, so I'll do everything I can to save you, okay?' I was basically just having fun toying with him, he was never in any danger."

Ronan: "I was so low after the Jamie vote, and I knew I was doomed. So from that point on, I was a loner. I just figured I would vote for whoever I wanted to vote for as long as it wasn’t an Ana. I had no more alliances."

With their alliance seeming unstoppable, and Ronan now vowing loyalty to Mario as well, Anna and Mario started to get cocky. They started to alter their plans to get to the final four. In their minds, a Pagonging was fun and all, but didn't necessarily have to happen all in a row. No, they started making plans to take out Isabella and Marcy as well, as soon as it was safe to do so. After all, Ronan could easily replace one of the Tumus, right?

Mario: "As we said many, many times, Marcy and Isabella simply did not belong. Isabella was an idiot and Marcy wanted to quit. And even though we didn't want to lose the Pagonging, we also wanted to get rid of those two deadweights as soon as we possibly could. And while I was tired of Isabella and her giggles, at least I could DEAL with her. Marcy, on the other hand, simply had to go. The little shit had tried to sabotage me numerous times in the game, Anna would always let me know about it everytime he tried something. So we decided the boot order would go Lindsay first, and then Marcy. I KNEW he wanted to quit, too, but I didn't care. I just wanted to kick his ass out legitimately. He shouldn't get to quit, I just wanted him to know that I had beaten him."

The rest of this episode was pretty straightforward. Marcy wasn't around much, so he did pretty much what he was told to do. Isabella stuck with Mario again, simply because he was now her final two partner. Kathy wasn't around much and, even when she was, she rarely spoke to anyone. And Ronan was barely logging in at all. He was lying as low as was humanly possible, sometimes not showing up for days.

Mario: "And when I won immunity, I knew it was the icing on the cake. I was safe, screw all of you Anas. So I REALLY got cocky at this point and used this event to squeeze a little MORE loyalty out of poor Ronan. I decided to give him immunity. I went to him and made a big show about how I was saving him from the vote because I owed him, and tried to pass myself off as a saint. When in reality I just knew it would look good for the jury. Even though I told people I didn't give a crap about the jury, in truth I was starting to become a jury whore. I needed to look better for them, so for that reason too I gave up my immunity to Ronan."

Isabella (confessional from day 30): "Roach is like a fly on my food. He's giving his immunity to Ronan, and if I wanted, I could get him voted out tonight and I would love to see the look on his face. But hey, I'd love to win this game more. I could've voted him out last time and I could vote him out this time. He doesn't realize I'm the one keeping him from getting squashed. For now, I keep shooing the fly away, I can stand the annoying buzzing. But when I'm ready, with one swift movement of my hand, the fly will be history."



~~ LINDSAY ~~


By now, the writing was on the wall. It was Lindsay's turn to go, and she knew it. She knew it when she lost the immunity challenge. She knew it because of the previous Tumu attempts to get rid of her. And she DEFINITELY knew it because of the way they all started kissing up to her. Everybody, it seemed, wanted her jury vote. And she wasn't stupid, she knew EXACTLY what the Tumus were up to.

Lindsay: "I failed to win immunity, so that was it. This was definitely my week to go. I tried to persuade everyone otherwise but that just wasn't the plan they had. Isabella was so nice, though. We went skinny dipping together. Her invite. *wink wink* Nice goodbye present."

Isabella (confessional from day 30): "I had so much fun skinny-dipping today with Lindsay. It must be karma that for me to win this game I have to vote off all the people I have the most fun with. At one point, she suddenly brought something up with me. She said bluntly, "Isabella, am I going tonight?" I just looked at her, weighing whether I should tell her or not, I knew Roach and Anna for sure didn't want her to know. When I didn't reply immediately, she said, "Please, just tell me. Please. I think I'm going and I'd just like to know." I made my decision. I said, "Yes. There are people here who want you gone." She just kind of looked at me, letting the realization settle in. I could tell that, even though she already thought she was, actually hearing it for certain slightly shocked her. She said "Thank you for telling me. Isabella, thank you so much for being so kind to me. I am really glad we got to know each other, and if a Tumu is going to win, I want you to. Please beat them for me." I hugged her and said thank you so much and that I wish we could have been on the same team from the beginning. She agreed. Of course I was saying what I had to say to ensure a vote for me at the final TC, but i felt a lump in my throat. Lindsay is just so pure."

Mario (confessional from day 30): "I have been working on Lindsay HARD for her jury vote. I have gone out of my way to be kind, benevolent, generous. You know, all that crap. I warned her she was going, I offered her advice on her schooling, and I have really gone out of my way to make friends with her. And to cinch the deal, I even "revealed myself" to her last night, telling her who I was and why I chose this strategy. So I think it is safe to say that Lindsay likes me right now, and that is good. See, I'm not just a kamikaze, sometimes I actually plan ahead to the jury as well!"

Lindsay: "I knew what they were ALL up to. It was all part of just a general ass-kissing for jury votes. It was sickening."

And at this point, Lindsay knew she had nothing to lose. She knew she was going, she wasn't happy, and she decided to do something about it.

So she planned her revenge.

Lindsay: "It had been a cloudy day, so just before Tribal Council, I moved everything from camp into the shelter... in case it rained. The tools, everyone's belongings, all the personal items, etc. It was all inside the shelter. And then while we were leaving for Tribal Council... I threw a flaming stick into the shelter. My revenge."

Lindsay, forever scorned by defeat, decided to burn down the camp.



~~ ONE FINAL OUTBURST ~~


At Tribal Council, all things appeared to be going smoothly. Mario gave up his immunity to Ronan, accompanied by an "emotional" speech about how he was paying Ronan back for a past favor and felt he was doing the right thing. Lindsay looked on and watched it all, happily playing along. The rest of the tribe had no idea that their shelter was in flames. They had no idea that Lindsay was pissed off. And they had no idea that she was about to go out in style.

Lindsay (at Tribal Council): "Marcy never does anything and the only reason he's still here is because he is part of the majority. If someone that lazy started on our tribe we would have voted him out at the first vote. He whined that some people didn't get to know him and it's just as much his fault. He's NEVER around. He's going to make the final four without doing a damn thing to deserve it. And Nick at least DOES work, but he's a total liar. He lied about being a Mormon and I don't know how anyone could do that. It's so evil to use something that's important to lots of people to get further in the game. If I were a Mormon I'd be really really hurt. He lies about so many things to so many people and everyone keeps ignoring it. I don't know why you keep trusting him. He's backstabbed everyone and it's like you expect him to be honest and ethical with you. He even lies about his name like his name makes a difference to how we see him as a player. And I don't care who he really is.. it's just a name. You won't vote him off and if he makes final two he's going to win so easily because you all fell for it. You'd be fools if you let him stay any longer."

Mario: "I was floored. Lindsay was usually so sweet, I had no idea she had it in her. But she wasn't done yet."

Lindsay (at Tribal Council): "Nick is the biggest threat to every person here and he knows it and every one knows it. He's the least honest player and the greatest physical threat and I can't deal with that anymore. He should go tonight more than any other person. Nick's lied to all of you and yet you're keeping him here. You all know he has like a million will points. So, go on... let him stay another 3 days and watch him as he wins immunity after immunity. If he does give away his immunity tonight, this is your chance to get rid of him. And probably your last chance."

Mario DID give away his immunity, but was fortunate in that none of the Tumus listened to Lindsay's plea. Marcy and Isabella voted with him, Lindsay received her four votes, and now she was gone.

Mario (voting for Lindsay): "I am honestly impressed, because that is the first time I have heard you speak more than three words at a time. I didn't know you had it in you. But that must have taken you a while to come up with, thank goodness for the thesaurus, huh? *chuckle* But it didn't make a difference. I picked you as my rival on day 3, and this is the natural conclusion to that showdown. I won, you lost, buh bye."

Isabella (voting for Lindsay): "*Truth or Dare? Truth: *holds name up* I am voting for you tonight. Dare: Vote for me when I get to the Final 2. I had a lot of fun skinny-dipping with you; we are free and always will be. Without a doubt, I respect you more than anyone else here. *kisses hand and blows kiss toward camera* Bye, Lindz."

Lindsay: "But when Jeff snuffed my torch out, I had a slight smile on my face. I knew what was waiting for them back at camp. hehehe."

The final six returned to camp, and saw everything in flames. It was gone, all of it. Lindsay had destroyed everything. Everything, that is, except for three piles of clothing. She had gone out of her way to spare the personal belongings of her three friends left in the game.

Lindsay: "I only saved my friends' things. Ronan, Bella and Kath all had their personal items sitting out in front of the shelter. I also left Bella a protein bar, Kathy a protein shake, and Ronan my soccer ball. I figured, to hell with the rest of them. Let them suffer."

The game was down to six.

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